personal6

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July 8, 2999

Federated Suns

Crusis March

Cholis

Morten Estate

Stephan watched out the window of the conference room as a dropship landed further off down the valley…for it wasn't one of theirs. It belonged to House Jerrast, whom the First Lord had known very little about until he asked Sarah about the request they'd made to travel out to Cholis to discuss business opportunities in the Morten Protectorate.

She'd given him the 'stupid brother' look and explained that House Jerrast was probably the second most powerful House in the Federated Suns economically…but they didn't hold any Duchies, which was probably why Stephan had never heard of them. They did have a Baronship in a city on New Avalon and another on New Sirtis, but they controlled no worlds on their own, and Sarah said it was rumored that was by their own choosing. They wanted to pursue economic power rather than politic power, though the two were never completely separate.

Still, they wanted to avoid any spitting wars between who got to give the orders and quietly worked their way into major asset holdings wherever they saw value…and if they saw value out here with House Morten, she assured him others would follow in their wake.

So he'd granted their request for a full diplomatic engagement between the two Houses, with the Jerrast delegation being led by the brother of the head of their House. As soon as the dropship set down, they'd be escorted here to begin telling Stephan whatever it was they were interested in but unwilling to say across Comstar's interstellar communications network.

Stephan waited with Paul and Sarah at a rectangular table that doubled as a monolith, for its base was made of polished granite and completely hid their legs from view. An arced table had been arranged before them with additional chairs in rows behind it for however many people House Jerrast brought, and when the doors opened up he saw a full phalanx of people in high end civilian clothes enter while two of Roger's now professional bodyguard unit stood on either side of the room silently, as if blending into the wall decorations that consisted of statues, curtains, artwork, and even a pair of small creek-like fountains that broke up the echoey silence whenever the large room was dead quiet.

This place was built for such gatherings, and rarely used by House Morten. Stephan liked talking to Carroll or other individual representatives in his office, but he didn't feel that would have been appropriate in this case given the questionable circumstances for these talks, so they'd used the 'Diplomatic Hall,' as they called it.

Kleev Jerrast walked in almost last and took the center seat at the Arc as several of his staff pulled out clear plastic sheets of documents, maps, and what looked like charts as far as Stephen could tell from his position across the 4 meter gap between tables. The man had no official title, nor did his brother as the head of the House the way House Morten did, and Sarah assured him that was yet another way for them to keep a lower profile in the Federate Suns to help hide their economic largess.

"Welcome," Stephan said before the assembly had fully got all its stacks of documents arranged to its liking.

"First Lord," Kleev said with a slight bow of his head. "My apologies for not being any more clear with our intent on coming here, and thank you for having us. In our experience many business deals have been lost due to competition getting wind of them and sprinting ahead to grab opportunities, so we prefer to discuss things in person, and House Jerrast believes your new Morten Protectorate offers a great many opportunities for mutual wealth generation."

"I like the world mutual," Stephan said amicably.

Kleev smiled slightly. "Let me make introductions first. On my left is Aeryn DeGast, Ishi Keeri, and Francine Jerrast. On my right is Herrold Jerrast, Orro DuMonte, and Sander Steiner."

That last name brought Paul's head up, and Kleev nodded. "Yes, he is related to House Steiner, but far off the succession line and married to my cousin."

"Does your House have assets in the Lyran Commonwealth?"

"We have assets everywhere we find an opportunity for respectable business relations. We find that economics is a far more binding language than politics, and the more the Great Houses interlink economies the more stable all the realms become, but the majority of our holdings are in the Federated Suns, and we would never compromise its integrity in any foreign dealings…which brings us to you, who are said to be independent and yet also part of the Federated Suns economy with full rights and privileges, yet outside the legal system?"

"True," Stephan admitted.

"Is this temporary or permanent?"

"Permanent. If Ian Davion wishes to reverse his father's actions, he'll have to use his armies to do it. We are beyond House Davion's control now, but we remain on good terms with them."

"So we heard, though the whims of a new First Prince can never be truly predicted," he cautioned. "Frankly, we were surprised when Andrew Davion granted your House independence. It was…unexpected, as was your removal from Neubenn."

Stephan leaned forward in his chair slightly. "I prefer blunt conversations, Mr. Jerrast, so let me start by saying this. We're out here because Andrew wanted to offer compensation for removing us from Neubenn. He did so citing no fault of our own, only politics. I wanted away from politics, and the only place to go to do that was the Periphery. I have no aspirations of going back to Neubenn or anywhere else in the Federated Suns. We're committed to expanding deeper into the Periphery and we do so based on our own designs, not the designs of House Davion or anyone else in the Federated Suns."

"Thank you, that clears up many questions," Kleev said, glancing to his side for a moment. "Such an endeavor must be quite costly, and we're willing to help subsidize it in exchange for long term investments."

"Such as?" Sarah broke in.

"We see many opportunities in your growing realm, but we'd like to begin with the brand new colony you've created called Polvice. We understand you are selling small tracts of land there to raise capital?"

"We're selling them to colonists," Paul clarified. "Nothing large enough to truly compensate for the costs, just a starting point for independent businesses to start popping up on their own merits where applicable."

"We would like to request a much larger purchase of land," Kleev said, raising a finger and one of his staff members seated behind him rose and he handed her several sheets of the plastic paper…which the staffer then walked around the edge of the rounded table and set before Stephan.

"These are several potential areas we've identified suitable for textile crops. We'd like to establish both the agricultural base and the industrial facilities to create finished garments en mass, not just for sale to your realm, but also for export back into the Federated Suns."

Stephan glanced at the areas indicated, then passed the highlighted maps over to Paul.

"The native workforce is extremely limited at the moment," Stephan cautioned.

"We would import our own workforce, then supplement with the locals already there."

Sarah raised an eyebrow. "That's a lot of jumpship traffic."

"We have a large fleet of commercial vessels to accommodate such endeavors."

"2,300 square kilometers?" Paul said after looking at four different potential sites House Jerrast had identified.

"We wish to purchase now what will be necessary later. As I said, this is a long term investment, and untouched land is hard to come by on civilized planets."

"As are reasonable tax structures," Aeryn Degast said from beside him. "Is the 5% revenue tax truly permanent?"

"It is," Paul confirmed.

"And with no other taxes to be added later."

"You sound surprised?"

"I know that was the tax structure you used on Neubenn, but I would have assumed you needed to generate a lot more revenue out here to cover expenses and would have had a multi-layered tax system in place to compensate."

"We stick with what works, and have found that predictability benefits business more than increased revenue streams," Paul said fluidly, as if he was making a point but wanting to be very gentle about it. Stephan could see he was a little intimidated by the economic portfolio of House Jerrast. How was it the First Lord had never even heard their name before now?

"As such," Kleev continued, "we'd like to get a number of different investments set up while land and other opportunities are available, and before the bidding wars break out."

"Bidding wars?" Stephan inquired.

"What you are offering here is a slap in the face to the way House Davion runs the Federated Suns. On Neubenn you still had to pay their taxes, even if the planetary ones were reasonable. Out here you are your own entity, so there is only one tax domain, correct?"

"Correct," Paul answered before Stephan could.

"Many Houses and corporations will want to build here and not there as a result. At present few know of your worlds. We discovered them because we follow the movement of work forces and have seen a drain from the surrounding areas, particularly in skilled labor. Unemployment on many of your neighbors had disappeared, as have a small amount of their population. We investigated and discovered you were the reason. A very fortuitous discovery, we hope, for we'd like to get established here before others do."

"And pick the best spots?" Stephan asked.

"It pays to be first, though I understand you not wanting to offer up all land on the colony at the same time. Prices will undoubtedly go up, and divvying it out slowly is by far the best monetary policy you could implement if not for your current need to expand infrastructure on Polvice and elsewhere, which I heard you are quite good at doing."

"And quite fast," Orro DuMonte added. "It must be a significant drain on your financial resources despite the lucrative sales from the mech factory you acquired."

"You've done your homework, I see," Stephan said neutrally as he passed the map from Paul to Sarah.

"And we're prepared to pay a large amount to obtain one of those tracts of land…or perhaps another of equal size if it's in a better location for your future colony planning."

"How much?" Sarah asked pointedly.

"We believe 7 billion Pounds to be a fair amount."

Stephan raised an eyebrow, and he could sense Sarah and Paul both stiffen beside him in surprise.

"I'm not the logistics or economics Lord," he said, "but that seems like an awfully large amount for empty land."

"Seven billion on New Avalon would barely buy 5 square kilometers," Kleev pointed out. "If we could go back in time and purchase the land there before it was developed, I believe you can understand the wealth that would have generated. We're wagering on Polvice growing to prominence, perhaps not as large as New Avalon, but enough to make the 7 billion seem inconsequential later. House Jerrast has the finances and foresight to pursue such lengthy endeavors that others either cannot see or cannot afford."

"You're playing a very long game," Sarah noted appreciable.

"Quite so, and we believe your realm is ripe with opportunity. If we're wrong and you fold up as so many other Periphery realms have done in the past, we lost our investment. We're betting your House has staying power after what you were able to do with Neubenn. That planet's success is among the best credentials possible when we look to engage in such long term investments."

"Thank you," Stephan replied to the compliment. "So exactly how rich are you?"

Sarah gave him a quick sideways glare, and he was sure she would have kicked him under the table if their chairs had been a bit closer together.

"I'm not sure how to categorize that," Kleev said, blinking in surprise.

"Are you as rich as the Davions?"

"Liquid assets, land, company holdings, ships…there's a lot of ways to assess value. It's not something you can simply put a fixed monetary value on."

"When we left Neubenn it wasn't by choice," Stephan explained. "House Davion forcibly bought out all of our possessions, corporate holdings, and investments. They put a number on it quite easily, and had the resources to do it themselves rather than bothering with the Federated Suns monetary infrastructure. I'll admit, I didn't even know your House existed until my sister informed me of my stupidity, because I kept track of Houses based on the Duchies they held and you have none. So I'm curious to know just how rich of a House we're speaking to now?"

"We typically don't like to brag about our holdings," Kleev said diplomatically.

"But we have more than the Davions," Aeryn said bluntly, "though we're not going to put a figure on it."

"So that brings up an issue my fellow Lords have probably not considered in light of your reputation," Stephan said warily. "You have no leadership in the Federated Suns without Duchies. No worlds to call your own. I'm wondering if you see the Morten Protectorate as an opportunity to gain some?"

Sarah and Paul's eyes shifted from slightly embarrassed to steely when he mentioned that, for they had not been aware of that potential angle. And such things were exactly what the First Lord was meant to worry about so they didn't have to and could focus on their specialties.

"I can promise you," Kleev said graciously, "that we have no intention of ruling any worlds, either officially or unofficially, and seek to establish a business partnership with your House, not to seek any Duchies with you, nor to potentially one day supplant you. We are not in competition with House Davion and we have no wish to even appear to be."

"So this is just about money then?"

"More than that. It's about maintaining intact supply lines, and your worlds are far from the borders of the Great Houses that could see war disrupt or destroy those supply lines. We wish a safe place to put down roots that will provide additional stability to the rest of our holdings in the Inner Sphere during future wars and the fallout from them. The Morten Protectorate seems to be the most logical and lucrative place to do that."

"Why not the Taurian Concordat? They're larger and more established."

"We have a few assets there," Kleev admitted, "but the business environment is nowhere near as friendly as the one you are creating here. While they do still have large tracts of land in their many colonies available, they are not a realm on the rise. Quite frankly, they are stagnant, and if they should ever begin to grow again we will utilize our existing holdings there and expand on them, but frankly no one predicts them to be a rising star again. They are simply too content with the status quo, whereas you are out hunting pirates and warlords, freeing worlds from their grasp, and expanding civilization out into the proverbial darkness. We would much rather make a large scale investment with such a House, and the sooner we do, the more financially better it would be for both of us."

"There are still many risks," Stephan cautioned, despite him liking what he was hearing.

"There always are, no matter where you invest. Nowhere is safe from war and economic calamity, but there are safer bets than others, and we see this as a safe bet for the long term. I am frankly surprised the Davions have not invested in more than the trade route jumpships at this point…or do you have existing projects in the works for them?"

"None," Stephan admitted.

"Perplexing," Kleev said, glancing to his right as if in silent counsel. "They are usually savvy investors, and if they started this endeavor by sending you out here…"

"They helped us out the door," Sarah clarified. "The endeavoring has been all our own making. We inform them of some of it, but not all. Frankly I'm still pissed at losing Neubenn, and I think they're glad we're out of their way. We have no business contacts with them at all, and I don't anticipate any in the future."

"Very interesting," Kleev said, then Aeryn spoke again from behind an ornate blue neck scarf that came up nearly all the way to her chin.

"They are not as savvy as us when it comes to economics, but they are more savvy when it comes to military affairs, so we do not dispute their ruling the Federated Suns. But this wouldn't be the first time we've beat them to a deal. We just expected one to already be in place since they were the ones who sent you out here."

"We're on our own," Sarah answered bluntly. "And the more interior sources of goods we can generate the better, because I'm having to rely far too heavily on the Federated Suns markets to get what we need…garments included. However, how they are produced can vary wildly, and if you're looking for an environment conducive to quasi-slave labor, this is not it."

Kleev shook his head fervently. "Perish the thought. A healthy and happy workforce is a productive workforce…so long as you can avoid unionization. Do you have any regulations regarding that?"

"If you studied us on Neubenn, you'd know the answer to that is no," Paul interjected.

"Good…and we did study you there. We just didn't know how many policies would carry over here."

"We stick with what works," Stephan said with a touch of pride. "If your workers want to strike, that's between you and them. We don't get involved."

"Are you planning on opening up a line of work mechs?" Ishi Kerri asked.

"Not at the moment," Stephan said with a frown. "We're making so much on the military ones I don't know why we'd switch over production."

"Would you have any objection to us building work mechs?"

Sarah raised an eyebrow. "On this parcel of land or another one?"

"Another one," Kleev cut back in. "We'd agree to leave military production to your factory, unless you wanted more in the marketplace?"

Stephan and Paul exchanged glances, but it was the First Lord that spoke.

"Would your mechs be licensed?"

"Of course. We always go through the proper channels."

"Our mechs are not, so we can't sell directly to the Federated Suns. We've no limit of other customers, so it's not really an issue, but if you wanted to produce licensed military mechs for sale back into the Federated Suns market, we could arrange for you to set up a factory to do so, if we were partners in that factory. Say a 20% stake?"

"Forty," Sarah amended, "and we'd give the factory the necessary land cost free."

"On Polvice or elsewhere?" Ishi asked.

"Where would you prefer?" Paul asked.

"Your colony on Drymo would be the logistically logical place if enough habitation can be erected."

"We can handle that," Paul promised, glancing at Stephan with a subtle nod.

"House Jerrast," the First Lord said somewhat dramatically, "Welcome to the Morten Protectorate. I think we're going to be able to do a lot of business together…and I'm already liking you more than the Davions. What other projects did you have in mind for our realm?"